You could think of this as Authority Figure trying to convince you that they are in charge. Another narrative is that they are reacting to you showing that your cost model is out of whack and trying to fix your incentives, rather than being about authority. I agree it’s not the whole story, but it’s also not not the story.
When the cop pulls you over and notices you don’t feel bad about speeding, that means you’re deciding when to speed purely based on expected fines. Most people decide when to speed based on a combination of expected fines, respect for norms and authority figures, fear and habit and so forth. A system that got you to speed the right amount would get them to speed far less than the right amount, so the system should punish you more to restore your incentives.
The homework case is similar. You’re ‘supposed’ to do your homework because it will help your education, not solely because of your grade, so when you’re observed (incorrectly, they feel, or they wouldn’t have assigned the work) zero intrinsic value on the work and not enough value on the grade incentive, they notice that your incentives aren’t strong enough to get you to do what they think you should do, which means they again should punish you more.
I mention this in the hopes that this might help you make more compromises in terms of how you present yourself, while making less of a sacrifice of your feeling of locus of control.
You could think of this as Authority Figure trying to convince you that they are in charge. Another narrative is that they are reacting to you showing that your cost model is out of whack and trying to fix your incentives, rather than being about authority. I agree it’s not the whole story, but it’s also not not the story.
When the cop pulls you over and notices you don’t feel bad about speeding, that means you’re deciding when to speed purely based on expected fines. Most people decide when to speed based on a combination of expected fines, respect for norms and authority figures, fear and habit and so forth. A system that got you to speed the right amount would get them to speed far less than the right amount, so the system should punish you more to restore your incentives.
The homework case is similar. You’re ‘supposed’ to do your homework because it will help your education, not solely because of your grade, so when you’re observed (incorrectly, they feel, or they wouldn’t have assigned the work) zero intrinsic value on the work and not enough value on the grade incentive, they notice that your incentives aren’t strong enough to get you to do what they think you should do, which means they again should punish you more.
I mention this in the hopes that this might help you make more compromises in terms of how you present yourself, while making less of a sacrifice of your feeling of locus of control.